RAVE REVIEWS FOR NIGHT ANIMALS
* “Truly remarkable illustrations clearly convey the book’s raucous activity and feature beautifully rendered animals standing in sharp contrast to pitch black backgrounds…This eye-catching, slapstick foray into the worrisome night will light up the room with smiles.” – Booklist, starred review
* "Every page is visually funny, with hilarious close-ups and slapstick animal postures…A giggle-inducing new gem for the night-fears bookshelf.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A good title to share with children who may be afraid of the dark to help them see the lighter side of fear.” – School Library Journal
“In Marino’s sweet-tempered nocturnal comedy, large, scary animals flee from the threat of still larger and scarier animals…Bonus visual subplots involves Skunk’s stench and Possum’s tendency to... play possum. The spreads are polished, the story moves fast, and the laughs keep coming.” – Publishers Weekly
PRAISE FOR FOLLOWING PAPA'S SONG:
"...exuberant and gorgeous..." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"...a heartwarming reminder of how children learn to trust and listen for papas’ songs in our lives." —School Library Journal, starred review
"This beautifully executed book about the bond between father and child that can be as deep as the darkest sea and powerful enough to help navigate in times of trouble will resonate with readers both young and old." —Kirkus, starred review
"A gorgeous, comforting book that provides a lovely counterpoint to Marino’s Meet Me at the Moon (2012)." —Booklist
PRAISE FOR MEET ME AT THE MOON:
"Marino's breathtaking panoramas make an already powerful story sing." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The textured mixed-media art paired with the flowing text elevates this title above most missing-mama fare ... Radiating warmth and comfort, this distinguished title strikes home." —Kirkus, starred review
"Heartfelt and sincere, yet never cloying, this will work well one on one or in story hours." —Booklist
PRAISE FOR TOO TALL HOUSES:
"The animals are full of heartfelt emotions, from anger and frustration to happy contentment...This story about friendship and togetherness contains a great lesson without being didactic or moralizing and should be welcome in most collections." —School Library Journal, starred review
"The well-turned, dialogue-rich narrative complements the sunny visuals, making this an excellent choice for one-on-one or group read-alouds...Another winner for rising star Marino." —Kirkus, starred review
“…a story of friendship that youngsters can understand and relate to.” —Library Media Connection
05/01/2015
PreS-K—A great cover design—a scared-looking opossum, stark black background, and the title in shiny silver lettering—will grab kids' attention. Endpapers in black, relieved only by three pairs of wide open eyes, will build suspense. As the story begins, Possum is hiding in the woods when a friendly skunk comes along. Possum spreads a fear of "night animals" to the skunk, then a wolf, and a bear. It takes a calm bat to explain to them that they are night animals. The illustrations include a lot of visual humor, as in Possum "playing possum" by acting dead and Skunk spraying "perfume" each time they get scared. The inside of the cover includes scientific facts about the animals, which is a nice feature that unfortunately will present processing challenges for many libraries. VERDICT A good title to share with children who may be afraid of the dark to help them see the lighter side of fear.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
★ 2015-04-15
Animals turn topsy-turvy in fear of things that go bump in the night. Nighttime can be scary, but Marino's black cover uses a supershiny silver title and a opossum with comically exaggerated trepidation on his face to assure that this story isn't spooky—at least, not for readers. It sure spooks the splendid animal characters, who pose fabulously on the inside of the jacket next to nonfiction zoological details. In a dark forest, Possum hunkers inside a hollow tree. A skunk joins him. They scrunch down together, bodies merging with hole's blackness so only their googly eyes and the skunk's white nose-stripe show. A gray wolf and grizzly bear appear, frightening the others but terrified themselves. The animals hug trees, clutch and cling to one another, and tumble about in fright. The skunk holds Possum upside down by his tail over the wolf's back; Possum repeatedly plays dead, even assuring himself in a thought bubble, "I'm not here." Every page is visually funny, with hilarious close-ups and slapstick animal postures. A bat asks what they're scared of, and they answer, "night animals"; the bat's reply, though obvious, is still uproarious: "But you ARE night animals." Gouache-and-ink illustrations place the animals' antics in a smooth, two-dimensional black forest background with sparse, beige-gray birch trees. A giggle-inducing new gem for the night-fears bookshelf. (Picture book. 3-7)